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Re: BEFSR81 v1 WAN Speed
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Re: BEFSR81 v1 WAN Speed
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HLogic
Newbie
Posts: 6
Registered: 10-27-2009
Message 3 of 12
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After a little more snooping around, I also find that the WAN port is half duplex - not that it should impose a 50% hit. I could live with 8.5... Hey, Linksys/Cisco! A gigabit equivalent of the BEFSR81 with a full duplex 10/100/1000 WAN would sure help us SOHO's out. It seems like you are either stuck with home or SMB+ class equipment. We 8-porters are left out in the dark... Thanks for your response, gv.
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10-27-2009 07:56 AM
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Re: BEFSR81 v1 WAN Speed
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HLogic
Newbie
Posts: 6
Registered: 10-27-2009
Message 7 of 12
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That is interesting info. I was not aware that you could sell a 5 gallon bucket that would only hold 3 gallons. I understand that not many devices would saturate a gigabit connection, however, I would not have thought that you could sell a device that claimed gigabit but only delivered megabit. So, in theory (and apparently in some practice), it is possible to claim gigabit but only be capable of xmit/recv, say 12 megabit? Well, color me dumbfounded! The component route is under investigation... Any suggestions? I am looking at the Cisco RVS4000 router or similar and NetGear GS116 or GS108T switch and similar combinations but before purchasing, I guess it would be prudent to determine whether or not the devices can actually deliver on the specs. Thanks again gv,
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10-27-2009 05:53 PM
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Re: BEFSR81 v1 WAN Speed
[ Edited ]
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HLogic
Newbie
Posts: 6
Registered: 10-27-2009
Message 8 of 12
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...and as a little clarification... The DSLAM to which I am connected, about 1000' away, is fed by an OC-192 (acts as a backup for another route 5 miles north). Not that I expect miracles within the next year or so but I am hopeful that higher, say 50 - 100 mbps, will be available in the not too distant future. I have had my BEFSR81 for about 7 years (purchased retail then for what I can buy the 'same' model now). I started with 1.5 and now am at 10 mbps - a rate I thought would be handled by my current equipment. I don't want to purchase new equipment in 2 years if higher speeds become available. On the LAN side, I do inordinate amounts of data shuffling - database, ETL and shortly A/V streaming. I am becoming underwhelmed by the performance of 10/100 and want to upgrade to gigabit. In terms of a router, I agree, 100 would probably suffice for the near-term. However, I was hoping to find something equivalent to the 81 with gigabit at least on the switch side. Currently, I need 8 ports but I am not having much luck finding switches with uplink ports (like the 81) for future expansion with the typical 2x rates on 8 port switches so I am also investigating 16 port switches. I am stuck between a home network scenario (4 ports + wireless) and SMB ($600 routers and $1.5K+ switches), which is why I am bemoaning the lack of a beefier version of the 81 - which would suit my needs perfectly. I guess it's time I jump in the grown-up's pool... Thanks for your input gv. If you have any suggestions for a setup that won't put me in the poor house, I would appreciate the feedback. Message Edited by HLogic on 10-27-2009 06:30 PM Message Edited by HLogic on 10-27-2009 06:34 PM
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10-27-2009 06:28 PM
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Re: BEFSR81 v1 WAN Speed
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 gv
Expert
Posts: 6111
Registered: 07-16-2006
Message 9 of 12
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No. Again: the specification of 10 Mbit/s in the data sheet only tells you which technical specification the port on the router follows. It is a 10 Mbit/s port. It works with other 10 Mbit/s devices and devices which are backward compatible to 10 Mbit/s. As FastEthernet and Gigabit Ethernet are backward compatible you can connect to it as well but of course only based on the 10 Mbit/s specification.
The technical specification defines how the port and the plug looks like, the wiring of the pins etc. The technical specification does not say anything about how fast the device using this port is.
If you buy a computer today the data sheet will say "Gigabit Ethernet Port" or "1000 Mbit/s Ethernet Port" or maybe "10/100/1000 Ethernet Port". This again is the technical specification of that ethernet port. It is compatible with Gigabit Ethernet devices. It does not say that the device is able to deliver 1000 Mbit/s data or receive this.
The very same applies to your BEFSR81. The BEF datasheet does not say it is capable of delivering 10 Mbit/s routing performance. The data sheet only tells you that the WAN port is an standard 10 Mbit/s Ethernet port. That's all. It's the same as with any other computer datasheet, NAS devices, or similar.
Regarding the switches: you don't need uplink ports anymore. Basically all devices are auto-negotiating and they detect automatically to which device it is connected and what cable (cross or straight) you use. If you buy a gigabit switch today it will most definitively have all auto-negotiating ports on it and you can connect it to any other device you like. You could also connect it to your BEF using the uplink port or any of its other ports. The port will detect what you have...
I would recommend to get a gigabit switch or may even 2 if you need more ports. Switches with more ports are usually more expensive then using 2 smaller switches. Of course, it depends somewhat on your LAN setup. You would not want your main data streams running through 2 switches. But, for instance, if you have a few devices in the living room and some more in the home office, it may be a good idea to use one switch in the living and one in the home office. All the streaming etc. would remain in the living and not hit the switch in the home office. If, however, you stream a lot from the home office to the living a single switch might be better.
Regarding the switches, again, a word of warning. If a switch has 8 full-duplex 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports it does not say that you can connect 8 full-speed gigabit devices delivering and receiving at the same time (i.e. full-duplex) 1000 Mbit/s. The switch would have to receive 8000 Mbit/s and send 8000 Mbit/s at the same time. Very often, you'll find data sheets don't mention the actual possible throughput of a switch. More expensive switches usually mention the throughput of the "backplane" or something similar. If a 8 port switch would say it is able to handle 16000 Mbit/s on the backplane then you would get full possible throughput. But if nothing like that is mentioned it may well be that it only handles less. You may be able to get full gigabit transmissions on a few ports but maybe never on all at the same time, e.g. if the backplane is only able to handle 4000 Mbit/s. The data sheet only tells you the technical specification of the hardware built-in but not how fast it is...
Thus, I would get standard gigabit switches for your LAN and a faster router which is able to handle your internet. Considering the increase in internet speed in the future I would expect to get a new router in 2-3 years. At the moment, the most important thing would be that it should be able to handle 100 Mbit/s WAN speed. That should work for 2-3 years...
One place to look for the actual throughput of routers is smallnetbuilder. Unfortunately, they don't have all router models there...
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 Accepted Solution
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10-28-2009 01:51 AM
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Re: BEFSR81 v1 WAN Speed
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HLogic
Newbie
Posts: 6
Registered: 10-27-2009
Message 10 of 12
Viewed 214 times
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Once again, thanks! I came to understand that the omission of the term "full-duplex" and the spec of the "backplane fabric" in addition to actually stating the port speed(s) was the issue. Although I understand what the technical spec is (e.g. 5 gallon capacity bucket). I would not expect the omission of the actual net carrying capacity (i.e. 3 gallons because there are 2 gallons of solidified concrete in the bottom). Now I know and have actually seen the difference in device specs. I believe the description above will go a long way to answering others' questions about 'it says X but it does Y' related to this topic. Your effort is appreciated.
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10-28-2009 05:51 AM
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